Duck Bread!

What you as a non-black person shouldn’t be saying (this includes non-black poc):

killin it

-game too strong (i.e. eyebrow game too strong, etc.)

-ass (i.e. That’s some ignorant-ass shit.)

hella

turnt/turnt up/turn up/turn down for what

shade/throwin’ shade

ratchet (don’t be a smartass, the adjective not the object)

werk

yas

habitual “be” (i.e. they be killin it, he be walkin, bitches be like, etc.)

the thirst/thirsty

anything being “real” (i.e. the struggle is real, the thirst is real, etc.)

the struggle

on point (i.e. outfit is on point)

chill (as in got no chill)

side-eye

stank face

cray cray

-had me like

trippin’

boo/bae

imma be

do/dough/dat

gurl/boi

basic (as in basic bitch)

holla

finna (i.e. I’m finna do xyz)

tho/doe

reading/read

school/schooling

dope

fo sho/fo real

y’all

dig/dig it/ya dig/you dig

respect (i.e. respect man)

about that/here for that (i.e. I’m not about that life, I’m here for this)

tight (i.e. this shit got me tight)

giving life (i.e. Beyonce gives me life, black tumblr giving me life)

swag

goin’ through it

Things to avoid in general because they are offensive and/or mock black culture:

Sassy (NO YOU DO NOT HAVE A SASSY BLACK WOMAN LIVING INSIDE OF YOU.  STOP.  LOOKIN AT YOU WHITE GAY COMMUNITY).

Do not call black hair kinky or nappy. (Don’t touch it either).

Do not call things ghetto. Just don’t.

Don’t use the word thug in relation to black men.

Do not assume black people are ignorant just because they don’t speak the same dialect of English as you do.

Don’t make fun of black names.

using AAVE is not the problem. I’m not bout to get mad at some hispanic kid from nyc for sayin deadass. I’m not gonna get mad at some white girl for using ‘bae.’

The problem isn’t people using AAVE full stop, its people using it incorrectly, getting clout for using AAVE, and/or turning around and saying black folks who use AAVE sound uneducated. THATS the problem. The problem isn’t that Bethany is saying ‘finna.’ (tho that do be sounding wack asl coming outta yalls mouths so maybe Stop w dat one)

Black people have shaped modern culture, and will continue to. Modern culture influences many, many things, including language. If you’re educated on why the double standards are a problem, understand that as a white person or a non-black POC you’re not gonna get as much shit for using AAVE, and aren’t just fucking ur posts up with bastardized AAVE, there’s no damn problem with using ‘on point’, or ‘hella’ (yall mfs deadass abt this one?). Not a damn thing.

When lockdown happened in the UK it happened very suddenly. At the law firm I work at, our office building emptied overnight when everyone was told to work from home. No time to clear our desks, no time to bring office plants home.

Fast forward three and a half months - everyone assumes that their plants are dead.

But then! An email goes round! It’s turns out that one of our security guards is a florist, and -

-the security team has moved EVERY SINGLE PLANT from all 12 FLOORS of our office building into the cafeteria. It’s been turned into a temporary greenhouse. Cacti and succulents and spider plants and terrariums and potted ferns

AND! Each plant has been INDIVIDUALLY LABELLED by hand with post-it notes with name and desk location so the plants can go home after lockdown ends

To give some indication of the scale of the endeavour:

If you zoom into the centre right photo you can see one of our security team happily waving

ah here we go: